Rail with reversible head



F. J. HAWLEY RAIL WITH REVERSIBLE. HEAD Filed Feb. 12, 1950 H Z 1 J L July 1, 1930.

Patented July 1, 1930 i I UNITED STATES PATIENT OFFICE FRANK J'. HAWLEY, F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK RAIL WITH REVERSIBLE HEAD Application filed February 12, 1930. Serial No. 427,674.

This invention relates to railroad rails, trians and vehicles-so that any connection particularly to that form thereof adapted between the head and the base requiring the for use with street railways, the object of tearing up of any appreciable portion of the the invention being to provide an improved street surface is impracticable, and conserail having a detachable head so connected quently, a practical structure of this kind 55 that the head can be readily and expedinecessitates a rigid one and one in which tiously removed without the necessity of the connection between the head and the tearing up any appreciable part of the base is readily accessible and can be utilized street surface. without the destruction of the road bed or A further object of the invention is the any material part of the street surface, for provision of an improved rail having a deas is well known, railroad rails used in the tachable and reversiblehead so constructed streets necessarily have the tread surfaces that the head may be quickly assembled in flush with the street surface.

a simple and rigid manner, and in which In the present improvement the rail head the head may be easily removed and reis connected to the base by a simple system 55 versed or another head substituted therefor of vertical bolts located midway between and in which the connecting means between the base and the head with the head or nuts the head and the base is simple in conwithin a channel of the head, the head thus struction, efficient in use and readily achaving a pair of spaced tread portions, one

cessible. at each side of the bolts whereby when one 70 A further object of the invention is. the side becomes worn or broken the head may provision of an improved two-part rail be reversed or when both sides become worn comprising a base and y a detachable head or broken the head may be readily removed connected by vertical bolts located midand this removal may be made without the way between the head and the base thereby necessity of tearing up any material part 75 facilitating the ready removal of the head, of the street surface and therefore, at a good or the reversal thereof, or the substitution deal less expense than is required for the of a new head therefor. renewal of an entire rail having an integral Railroad rails, as used today in streets head and base, or the renewal of the head necessarily have the tread surfaces flush connected by transverse bolts located below with the street surface, consequently when a the surface of the street, and which form new rail is needed it is necessary to break of connection requires the destruction of the and tear up the road bed or the street surroad surface and the concrete to get at such face which is extremely costly, and not only transverse bolts.

that but it interferes with traflic and is usu- In the drawin s accompanying and form- 85 ally the subject of considerable comment on in? a part of thls specificationthe part of the citizens due to the repeated igure 1 illustrates a side view of one tearing up of the streets. form of this improved rail;

One of the difliculties with rails having Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof taken on 40 detachable heads is the manner in which the line 22 of Fig. 1; detachable head is connected to the base and Fig. 3 illustrates a side view of another which has materially prevented the adopform of this improved rail; tion of such forms of rails. Heretofore Fig. 4 is a cross section view taken on these connections have usually been such line 44 of Fig. 3; and

that it was necessary to tear up a consider- Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another able portion of the street in order to get at form of this improved rall. the connecting bolts. This, of course, re- Similar characters of reference indicate quires time, labor and money and in addicorresponding parts in the several views. tion, results in considerable interference Before explaining in detail the present with theproper use of the streets by pedesimprovement and mode of OPBlfltlOIL therei which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments, and that the phrase- Y ology which I employ is for the purpose of channel OI IGCESS.

description and not of limitation.

This improved rail comprises a base 2 having side flanges 3 for the reception of the usual holding spikes 4 by means of which the base is secured to the cross ties, and a detachable head 5 fitting such base and which head is shown as reversible. In the present improvement the base is lengthwise channeled or recessed, as at 6, to provide a pair of webs 7 having diverging inner side faces 7' forming what may be termed a V or wedge shaped The head of the rail is provided, at the top thereof, with a lengthwise extending channel or recess 8 located midway of its width, thus forming a pair of similar tread surfaces 9 and 9'. This head has a depending web 10 conforming to the channel or recess in the base, and therefore, is of tapered or wedge form, adapted to snugly fit the recess or channel in the base. For detachably connecting the head and base suitable vertically located bolts 11 are pro vided, the heads or nuts of which are located in the channel 8 of the head and preferably 'in suitable recesses 12 thereof. In certain instances these connecting bolts may be first passed through the base, wlth the heads thereof fitting into recesses 13 at the bottom of the base and the nuts thereof in the recesses 12 of the head, or this may be reversed so that the heads of the bolts are located in the recesses 12 of the head, while the nuts are located in the recesses 13 of the base, or if preferred, the base may be provided with nut receiving openings 14 at the bottom of the channel 6, (see Fig. 2), for the reception of nuts prior to the application of the head to the base and then the bolts passed through the head for engagement with the nuts. The recesses at the bottom of the channel 8 have sufficient size to permit the turningof the bolt heads or nuts located therein while the recesses 13 or 14 in the base are of a size to prevent the turning of the nuts or bolts during the tightening of the nuts and in practice, split washers or other means may be used to prevent jarring loose.

In practice the base webs 7 are provided with transverse bolt openings 15 adjacent to the ends of the rail for the reception of fish plate bolts 16, the heads of which are preferably located in registering recesses 16 formed in the opposed webs of the head and base, thus likewise facilitating the tightening of the nuts.

Various forms of 'fish plates 17 may be used. In Fig. 2 the fish plates are flush with the sides of the detachable head. In Fig. 4 the fish plates are located in recesses 18 of the base, whereby the head of the rail may overlap the base and thus provide means for lifting the rail head from the base, which may also be accomplished by providing in the side faces of the rail recesses 19 (see Fig. 5), for the reception of cant-hooks;

In the form shown in Fig. 5, the top edges 20 of the base webs 7 and the overlapping portions 21 of the head are inclined downwardly and outwardly thereby forming a water shed to prevent the passage of water between the head and the base. 7

In the form of rail shown in Fig. 4, the tapered side faces of the web of the head and base terminate in straight faces, as distinguished from the continuous tapered faces shown in Figs. 2 and 5. In practice the rail heads may be assembled with the bases so as to break joint therewith, whereby a pair of heads and a pair of bases may be effectively tied together.

The present improvement not only prolongs the life of this improved railhead to twice its normal life, since it may be readily reversed without'removing the entire rail with its base and not only reduces the cost of replacing it, since a large part of the street does not have to be torn up with .the consequent cost of relaying it, but the improvement is so constructed that the head may be easily and ex editiously removed without the necessity o tearing up any appreciable part of the street surface causing an obstruction to trafiic. Thus aside from the simple and efficient mode of connection, the rail is extremely practical and overcomes the disadvantages heretofore present in the use and of detachable heads for street railroad rails, and has been considered by railroad engineers as solving the problem of providing a readily removable head for railroad rails of this kind and is quite a step in advance over those forms of' railroad rails heretofore patented having a detachable head, which for one reason or another have been considered 'im racticable and which no doubt has prevente the adoption and commercial success thereof.

It is to be understood that by describing in detail herein any particular form, structure or' arrangement, it is not intended to limit the invention beyond the terms of the several claims or the requirements of the prior art.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made, or all of the modes of its use, I claim:

1. A railroad rail comprising a base and a detachable head joined together by means 2. A railroad rail comprising a base and a detachable and reversible head joined together by means located substantially centrally of thewidth of the head.

3. A railroad rail comprising a base and a detachable head having a lengthwise extending recess or channel located midway of the head, said head and base joined together by means located in said channel and extending substantially to the bottom of said base.

' 4. A railroad rail comprising-a; base and a detachable and reversible head having a lengthwise extending recess or channel mid- -Way of the width of the head, said head and base joined together by means located in such channel.

5. A railroad rail comprising a base having a pair of webs forming a )l-shaped channel, a detachablehead having a similarly formed web fitting said channel and means located substantially centrally of the width of the head and base for connecting said head and base together.

6. A railroad rail comprising a channed base forming a pair of webs, transverse bolt openings in said webs, a detachable head having a web adapted to fit the channel of said base and means passing centrally through the head and base from top to bottom thereof for connecting said head and base.

7. A railroad rail comprising a channeled base forming a pair of webs, transverse bolt openings in said webs, a detachable head having a web adapted to fit the channel of said base and means passing centrally through the head and base from top to bottom thereof for connecting said head and base, said head having a lengthwise extending recess in the top thereof midway of the width of the head for the reception of said connecting means.

8; A railroad rail comprising a channeled base forming a pair of webs, transverse bolt openings in said webs, a detachable head having a web adapted to fit the channel of said base and means passing centrally through the head and base from top to bottom thereof for connecting said head and base, said head having a lengthwise extending recess in the to thereof midway of the width of the hea for the reception of said connecting means and said head havllg means for facilitating the lifting there- 0 9. A railroad rail comprising a channeled base forming a pair of webs, transverse bolt openings in said webs, a detachable head having a web adapted to fit the channel of said base and means passing centrally through the head and base from top to bottom thereof for connecting said head and base, said head having a lengthwise extending recess in the top thereof midway of the width of the head for the reception of said connecting means and said head having means for facilitating" the lifting thereof said means comprising a groove located in the side faces of the head.

10. A railroad rail comprising a base and a detachable head said base and head having interlocking webs, the top edges of the base webs and the corresponding surfaces of the head having outwardly and downwardly inclined faces for shedding water.

11. A railroad rail comprising a base and a detachable head, said base and head having interlocking webs, the top edges of the base webs and .the corresponding surfaces of the head having outwardly and downwardly inclined faces for shedding water and meanslocated centrally of the head and base and extending from the top to the bottom thereof for connecting the head and base together.

12. A railroad rail having a flanged base and provided with a channel located midway of the width thereof of different widths and a detachable head having a web of different widths fitting said base channel and means located midway of the base and head and extending from the top of the head for connecting said head and base.

13. A railroad rail comprising a base provided with a pair of webs forming a channel or recess, said webs having transversely located bolt openings and a detachable head having a web fitting the recess of said base, said base having recesses in the top thereof for the reception of vertically located bolts for connecting the head and base together.-

said base having recesses in the top thereof for the reception of vertically located bolts for connecting the head and base together, and said head having recesses for the reception of the bolt head or nuts.

15. A railroad rail comprising a base and a detachable head joined together by means located substantially centrally of the width of the head said head having means for lifting the same.

16. A railroad rail comprising a base and a' detachable and reversible head joined together by means located substantially centrally of the width of the head, said head having means for lifting the same.

17 A railroad rail comprising a base and a detachable head joined together by means the necessity of tearing up any appreciable part of the street surface.

18. A railroad rail comprising a base and a detachable and reversible head joined together by means accessibly located whereby the head may be removed and reversed without the necessity of tearing up any appreciable part of the street surface.

19. A railroad rail comprising a base and a detachable head joined to ether by means extending vertically throng the head and. base to near the bottom of said base whereby it is a'ccessibly located without the necessity of tearing up any appreciable part of the street surface.

20. A railroad rail comprising a base and a detachable channeled head having interlocking web portions, the web portions of the base having transverse bolt openings for the.

reception of fish plate bolts and the web }portion of the head-and the body of the ase having vertical openings for the reception of bolts for connecting the head and base together.

Signed at Room 1822, 15 Park Row, city, county, and State of New York, this 11th day of February, 1930.

FRANK J. HAWLEY. 

